Untitfled a.odt
Operation Force Stop In 5044 the Assembly agreed on Operation Force Stop and send the largest Convoy ever assembled through the gate and established the Pinwheel Stronghold Fort Force Stop . The reaseon for this is officially to prevent the Ence and the Lilith Stakers to from using the Pinwheel Gate to invade or establish a strong presence in the SMC. -1- Flocks of Sky Tumblers swirled high in the cloudless blue sky as a sleek black lux flyer swooped down almost without making a sound and stopped right at the front of Magellan Gate. The limo had the logo of the Union Fleet on its side and the small red flag projected above its roof with a circle of five stars, surrounding one more star in its center. A massive Nul in Marine dress uniform jumped out from the pilots compartment and opened the rear door of the Rolls for an old man wearing a red kilt , white socks and polished shoes. The old man thanked the Marine . ”Thank you Corporal Xurr . If you want you can take the day off. I will be busy in there for a while.” “Sir I just started my shift. I doubt Captain Morgan would approve.” “I am sure Captain Morgan won't object if the Admiral of the Fleet grants you a day off.” “You make a valid point Sir.” .”Corporal we are on Pluribus Unum . There are many things to see.” “Admiral Sir. I have planned for days what I will do and see ever since I was attached to your security detail and knew I would visit Pluribus. There is one thing, I simply must see!” Admiral got curious.”Visiting your societies pavilion?” “Why would I do that,Sir? I know everything I want to know about Nul culture.” “Then it is the Assembly of course.” “Not on top of my list,Sir” “Corporal Xurr now I simply must now. What is it you want to see?” “Stahl's Tree of course. I want to get a framed leaf.” McElligott raised both his hands.”You got to be kidding me!” “Sir, we Nuls never kid. This is not in our nature. Someone could be offended. It is never good to offend a Nul not even if you are a Nul. Besides I am a Marine we never make jokes about the Eternal Warrior .” McElligott sighed. “Even a saint could get jealous at that.” “Sir?” “Never mind. Enjoy your day off. “ He had lost the good mood he had as he strolled past the gate, decided against the slide way as he still had time before his monthly meeting started. Most beings ignored him. Now if Stahl would stroll down Magellan path, half of Pluribus Unum would come... he dismissed his own thoughts. Of course he earned it all and neither Stahl nor him did all this for glory. Richard never show boated. When the Citizen wanted to honor him and a huge majority voted to built him a statue. He objected and wanted the funds spend for something else. They told him they already decided so he said.”Plant a tree or something.” It seemed something like a law of nature, no matter what this other Admiral did or said. It always turned into something larger than life. The tree planted grew in the biggest Oak ever and in a way was perhaps the most fitting memorial. That the entire Union fleet had mustard yellow carpet had its real origin in an actual mustard stain made by Stahl. Everything he did, indeed. A young girl stepped in his way and interrupted his musing. She was of Saran stock he was certain, even if the human species now were truly intermingled. She was no older than maybe sixteen. She wore a tartan pattern mini skirt and a black top that hugged her pretty shape in a very becoming way. “I am sorry Sir, but are you not Admiral McElligott?” He smiled and said. ”And who wants to know?” He asked that mostly of course for the benefit of the two or three cloaked marines on security detail. It was a safe planet and he had no political enemies as far as he knew. But no one in a position like this was without enemies. ”I am Petra Epoteth of Luxor . I am studying early Union history and Sir,you are my hero!I am on Pluribus to do research on my term paper. What chances I would have the luck to run into you!” Now he really tried not to be vain, but because of the Corporal, his own thoughts earlier he could have hugged the girl. ”Yes I am McElligott.” “Can I , I mean if it is not to much to ask. But can I take an image with you. Otherwise no one will ever believe me.” Of course he agreed and she detached the tiny hover cam from her PDD by commanding the robotic device to go into paparazzi mode. A small crowd gathered and every one wanted a few images with him. His dignity demanded that he had to end this but he felt suddenly right as rain. “ Maybe you could tell me about the Union Armed forces conference on November 12th, 2223. Old Terran time that is. I believe it was the true birthday of our fleet.” A young man who also had an image taken with him and Elligott, said. “The fleets birthday is recognized to be the 5th of October 2220 when Saran, Pan Saran and United Earth fleets were united .Is that not so?” He never ceased to be amazed just how knowledgeable and engaged people of this age were. He remembered as if was yesterday when people took every right for granted, disinterested in politics and unwilling to do their part. His own son many thousand years dead by now could not even name the Prime Minister or knew what the party stood for he represented.' Thw girl said. “It was on November 12th when the first Assembly still under a President elected United Earth Admiral Mc Elligott to become the Admiral of the Union fleet, the fleet was only hours put under the command of the United Stars Spatial Mavy. Before they acted on Union behalf but stiill had their own command structure in place.” Mc Elligott smiled. “The young lady is righ,well almost. The new Fleet command and my post were officilial with the President's signature at midnight and thus the biethday of the fleet is 13th of November.” He eyes glowed and the young man said with a whisper. “And you have been there!” This realization expressed in that whispered statement erased the care free air that had prevailed and replaced it with a barrier of awe and perhaps a little fear. It dawned to them that he was indeed an immortal. The spell was broken. Elligott sighed and said to the girl.”My inivitation stands.” He wved at them and moved on, but his mood had improved. The young man was right, he had been there . The idea behind the United Stars, the concept had grown into a reality. It was not a perfect utopia, but there was a good chance it would eventually reach that lofty ultimate goal. The realization that he had been part of that filled him with a warm feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Hhe was still deep in thought as he passed through the huge Burke door .The south entrance to the Assembly sphere. It was named after president President Webb Burke, who cut the ribbon and officially declared the Assembly sphere open. A being deeply shrouded , arms crossed and buried in the long voluminous sleeves of his hooded robe waited for him. Outward there was nothing that distinguished this uncanny figure from any other Narth , but he knew this was the Narth Supreme. He was the leader of the most secretive, mysterious and oldest member civilization and nothing more than a Union citizen. He held, at least as far as the public knew no position, he did not even represent the Narth. Yet to the vast majority he was almost like a god. While he firmly rejected that notion even McElligott could not completely dismiss it. He only seen a glimpse at what the Narth Supreme represented and he could not understand it. The Narth Supreme declined his hooded head gracefully. ”I see your deeds are not as unappreciated as you think.” “I guess I am still human and motivated by foolish human emotions, much more than I realized.” “There is nothing foolish about human emotions. We Narth have have abandoned them so long ago and yet through the young Narth we realized how much we have lost. In this humans are far superior to us. Do you know it will was emotions not logic or power upon the fate of the universe had been decided, and it is emotions that tie the Dark One?” “I take whatever you say to the bank. Even now twenty years after that event you and Stahl. I don't understand it or what the Dark One represents” “Then we share this sentiment. I do not understand the extend of it and the DarkOne tried t explainit to me. Further I am intrigued by what it accomplishes by taking my word to the bank. Is it not a place dedicated to conduct monetary transactions?” McElligott could not help but laugh.”I tried to indicate how much value I place in your words.” “You possess knowledge I lack. I did not know you could equate the value of words with monetary values? How much would the word Assembly be worth if I utter it? Is there a difference in value to the written word? How long does a word retain its value? What a fascinating concept!” In this the Narth Supreme was not very different to any other Narth and McElligott tried to explain it. No Narth Supreme was no god. A very wise, very old entity with wast powers, but not perfect or omnipotent. This made McElligott much more comfortable around the Narth Supreme. The Narth Supreme had listened to the explanation and signaled comprehension. “To comprehend the actual meaning of all the sayings, metaphors,witticism and idioms you use so frequently could keep all Narth occupied for two galactic revolutions.” The commandant of the PSI Corps, and oldest of the Coven. A small member society in many ways as mysterious as the Narth joined them, with a smile. She had married Richard Stahl, and proudly wore the simple golden wedding band and insisted on an old Pre Astro custom where the woman adopted the name of her husband. She used to be Alycia Lichfangh but now was Ms. Stahl. She also still was the Commandant of the PSI Corps.. “Good morning Admiral and greetings to you Narth Supreme. I am surprised to see you so early. Normally you only appear when the meeting is about to start!” The Narth Supreme greeted her as well with a nod and said.”I wanted to savor the culinary offerings of our latest Member society. The Karthanians have completed their application process and were officially welcomed yesterday.” McElligott said.”That was the reason I came early.”I wanted to welcome the Karthanian Rep and try their food. They say it is consumable by humans.” “Obrock, what they call slobber tastes like Klack sugar mixed with rotten fish. I doubt it stays long enough in your stomach to be digested.” The Narth Supreme asked. ”Rotten fish. I think a description of its molecular composition will sufficient to satisfy my curiosity” Both Alycia and Obrock were quite surprised by the usual very adventurous Narth Supreme when it came to sampling and analyzing new flavors and tastes. Narth Supreme said. ”We do have noses under these hoods to sample and process olfactory conditions. I was invited by Erica to a banquet on Nilfeheim. Unfortunately they also served a delicacy praised by the Neo Vikings called Surströmming. Now to this day I am unable to decide what smells more offensive. Pulse Stink Maggots of the Elly or fermented rotten Silver Flicker of Nilfeheim. I am not eager to add a third such experience.” Alycia listened totally baffled to the quite unexpected statement of the usually so detached Narth Supreme. She was certain she even detected a hint of very human disgust in his voice. “I threw up as the Elly introduced their Stink Pulse Maggots.” McElligott shared. ”I heard of Surströmming as it had been a Swedish or Norwegian specialty in Pre Astro times. I am now very glad I never tried it. “Are you still going to meet with the Karthanian rep?” Alycia wanted to know. “No we might as well get the meeting started. I am sure Mothermachine is already there.” The three walked to the next IAT access It was quite common to see Narth,most of course weren't really Narth but humanoids who dressed in the same way. Either to pay homage and respect, or to emulate the same flair of mystery. Their glowing eyes however was created by normal lights and not the Psionic glow, real Narth emitted. There were Narth fan clubs and a company did good business selling Narth robes, so Narth did not create the same excitement and and reactions the Narth created after they decided to become more active. Besides the outer Equator corridor of the Sphere always had a dignified atmosphere. No one really yelled, ran or made a spectacle. While there were no actual rules to this effect, the realization that this was the most important place of the Union. That everything spoken behind these curved walls could be heard by Trillions of beings. That this is where the Will of the people became law had a sobering effect. Alycia said.”I think you have been recognized Narth Supreme, there is a group of young people staring your way in breathless awe.” “I think their focus is on the Admiral.” Obrock turned and recognized the Saran girl clutching her PDD among the group of onlookers. He smiled proudly. ”I can't deny it feels good to step out of your husbands shadow and be recognized. Despite the realization how childish and immature this really is.” “Richard has never done anything for the glory of it. There is only one motivation that drives him. He dearly loves me, but if he knew some of the things we discussed and decided on. He would not hesitate a second...” “I know Alycia. Never tell him that, but there is no one I admire more.” “Since we decided not to sample Karthanian fare, why don't you invite her over. Her name is Petra Epoteth and she visits Pluribus Unum for research on her term paper.” He looked at her.”Yes she told me that, but how do you know?” “I did not deep probe her, honesty, but I am also the PSI Corps commandant and my officers crowd scan every visitor. It's no secret. Besides she even wears the same skirt as you, quite obvious a homage.” He motioned the girl over and said to Alycia.”It's a kilt not a skirt!” Narth Supreme observed the kilt closer.”According to the Encyclopedia Galactica it is a type of skirt, traditionally associated with the dress of Highlanders. The kilt first appeared as the great kilt, the breacan or belted plaid, during the 16th century OTT, and is Gaelic in origin. The filleadh mhòr or great kilt was a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder...” McElligott interrupted the Narth Supreme.”Semantics. It is a kilt!” The young woman was now close enough.”Sorry to have followed you sir.” “No worries young lady. I need to attend a meeting, but this afternoon you come to Pluribus Fleet headquaters and I will help yoou with your term paper.” “You are serious, Sir?” “Yes I am,” The girl returned all excited to her friends and Eligott and Alcia followed the Narth Supreme into the lift. Alycia told the system.”Apex Hall , Upper Tier.” =!!+= The Apex Hall was at the very top of the Assembly sphere , and was an enormous room, usually used for conferences and similar occations., the upper tier featued a number of smaller meeting rooms. In one such room , the quarterly meeting of the Unions most secretive and most powerful group had just about started. There was no apparent security, no marines or the Assembly's First guard, but no lift would carry anyone to the second tier, an army of the most advanced battle nanites had sweept the premises for bugs and listening devices, and would swarm over anyone trying to approach unanounced. McElligott walking behind Alycia and the Narth supreme was actually the last one, the other members of the Gray Ghosts were already here. Everyone present wore a dark gray hooded robe obscuring the identity of the persons present, McElligott and Alycia had put on their robes just before entering. The Narth's robe had simply changed color and appearance. Even though they were all obscured, McElligott new all eleven beings of the Gray Ghosts. Because of this he was more than surprised to count a twelvth being present. The robes and obscuring hoods were originaly intendend to homogenize them, to make them equal and of course to prevent any outsider to recognize any of the individuals should someone somehow manage to infiltrate the meeting. They also wore the robes during the First Day of the New Year when the Gray Ghosts appeared before the Assembly. Ever since the trial of Eric Olafson in 5050, the Gray Ghosts existence was known to the public and a Union Vote in 5051 required them to appear before the Assembly and deliver their report. The group called the Gray Ghosts was the strangest and most unique secret of the Union. A secret every citizen knew about and yet it was kept more protected than any other. While the identity of these beings was part of the secrecy, the Union public knew that the Narth Supreme was a member and no one would be surprised about the identities of the rest. Yet the unexplainable, but very real condition known as the Union Spirit guarded their existence more securely than any other security measure. You could ask any citizen on the street about the Gray Ghosts and would not get an answer. Asking a second time would cause an angry reaction. McElligott found an empty chair and sat down. Nelson II was present as well, its Ego Core hovered as a visible ball of light above the table. The Unions most intelligent and capable Omnitronic AI was not a member but acted as host and facilitator. Even a cloak and a hood could not really disguise that one of the beings was a clack. Of course that it was the queen was known only to the beings present. There were no set rules as how these meetings were held, no one kept notes, there wasn't a pre set agenda. Nelson said. “All are present and the room is secure.” All but two raised or took of their hoods. Of course one was the Narth Supreme. The other was the new person. Egill said. “You may wonder who the new individual is, May I introduce Tyr? In the Prophecy of Before and Yet to come, he was entioned as the white teacher. He begun life as a Tyranno Fin on Nilfeheim and was chosen by the Voice of the Rule to guard the essence of the Dark One, and to see Eric come into his own. He was the most elusive of a group called the Guardians of the Universe. It was him who saved Erica by uniting her unborn soul with that of her brother who was desined to become a god. Now the Dark One has reincarnated and the decsion was made, Tyr's role and purpose has ended, as has the original reason for many of the Immortals existence. Tyr is one of the few that can claim to know the Dark One. Eric has been on Nilfeheim and granted Tyr the ability to appear in humaniud form so he could leave Nilfeheim. It was Narth Supreme who suggested Tyr to become a member of this group.” The being rose from its seat and bowed. “I am humbled by this invtation.” The Narth Supreme said. “So are we, Narth has met Tyr many years ago and one can only say that in Tyr one found a kindred spirit. One that understands what Narth is.” McElligott said. “A kindred spirit to you Narth Supreme, would that mean he to has your abilities?” “Yes.” Alycia said. “Tyr became a Union Citizen only a few weeks ago and like the Narth Supreme his HPI can not bbe measured.” Tyr bowed again. “Iam but a simple fish at the core and still learn what it means to have human appearance. My abilities can very well be measured and are 7.5 percent below that of the Narth Supreme. I neither poseess the eons of experience nor the such accumulated knowledge, I am as intimidated as a Fangsnapper facing a Rock Shark. This invitation is as much an honor as it is a challenge for me.” The Klack queen said “An endorsement by the Narth Supreme and Egill is all I need to welocme you without any reservations. Power and abillities mean little as they are relative, charcater and personality however are traits to be respected no matter in whom they manifest. Welocme to the Gray Ghost,Tyr. “ Mothermachine declined the head of her Ego Center remote and said. “This is why the Queen is one of us, and I too welcome you.” After they all had welcomed the new member. Alegar said. “Richard and the fleet has defeated the Ence and the Xundran in the Small Magellan cloud. It was an intense fight, as neither the Ence nor the Xundran are far behind Tl 8. What remained of them retreated or perhaps fled through the big alien gate in the SMC. It does not conform to any of the others we dscovered. It is bigger and older and connects to the far distant Pinwheel Galaxy. Now the Assembly wants to sent an expedtion through. I ask why? Should we not rather destroy the gate? We are already expanding to almost every galaxy in the local group thanks to the golden Bazaars.. Should we not concentrate on our own galaxy first. It will take us mny thousand years to do that, by then we might be able to build our own gates or if that new Space drill drive Rex company is developing becomes reality we won't need gates anyway. To conclude my monologue why open another frontier?” The Nul Lord said. “Going there is better than whatever is out there coming to us. Once we believed there is nothing mightier than us Nul. But what are we against the Klack? We stood no chance against the Y'All, we could not even defeat the Shiss..Even when it comes to physical strenght we are far from being strong. A thousand Nuk coukd not lift the leg of a Bandrupo and yet Narth Supreme moved an entire moon by the power of his mind.” We must go through every door that opens and make sure we hold the key and know what lies beyond.” McElligott said. “Our Galazy still holds mysteries and perhaps civilizations of great power, but I have a feeling after we defeated the GC and the Kermac, we are the biggest kid on the bloc.If we stop expanding and stay within the boundaries we have, we will stagnate and eventually fall appart. What really unites us are our eemies, especially we Terrans get bored if there is nothing to fight. I am the most ardent proponent for peace, but if peace is all therre is, without threat or challenge we will look for problems among ourselves. I just met a young woman today and realized how different she is from the youth I knew before the Ascent. It was a soft entitlement society who demanded and claimed to have the right to consume without producing or contributing. People were denied to defend themselves, even the most heinous crime was blamed on circumstances and not the culprit. If the Sarans had not come, humanity would have degenerated and ceased to exist. I don't advocate war but we must stay curious and explore.” Mothermachine said, then don't send just an expedition. There is a reason why there is a gate connection between Pinwheel and the Small Magellan cloud. Maybe the Ence fled their galaxy. I propose to increase our exploration of the Small Magellan Cloud and take poession of both gates. One Zero Zero the leader of the Non Corps said. “We should establish a Gate house with enogh resources to prevent anyone coming our way without us knowing or allowing it. We are not Empire builders but we have the obligation to provide for our safety.” The Gray Nul agreed. “Yes we need to be able to stop any potential invasion, stop it by force if we have to. I propose to actually take poession of these gates. Whatever floats in space is owned by whoever takes poession. That way we can intensify our research and if needed shut them of or destroy them if we must.” McElligott started to prepare a pipe. “Operation Force Stop. Let's do it the Union way, and make a statement. Expand the Gatehouses we already installed , increase our effort to finish construction on the ones planned and create a bubble of well defended Union space around each gate. That way we can react faster to any development and the entire Union has a new worthy project, just like when we built the first bridge.” Mothermachine said. “It is a good plan. We developed many new technologies when the Bridge was built. Gigamons, Long range tugs, com relay tech and more.” Garyth, the Leedei said. “What about Avondur, the planet Erica amd her crew dscovered? We have a small research outpost there, if I read the reports right, the Tomradi might just be that next big enemy. Whatever they seeking seems of cosmic importance.” “They seek the Core.” Tyr said. Everyone turned to the new member. Cherubim said. “You know who they are and what they seek?” “I had a lot of time to read and learn while I was just a fish.. I am sure the Coven know more about them, but yes I know what they seek.” Alycia said. “The Sateer were denziens of the same precursor Universe we Coven came from. But our exile in the Nether worlds erased almost all our knowledge.” Tyr said. “What I knw is based on hearsay and I can not validate the correctness of the part of the story that occurred in said Precursor Universe,, but some of my knowledge was conveyed to me by the Dark One and also by the Voice of the Rule.” The Klack Queen said. “Please share what you can,” They all listened as the Trranno Fin in human form started. “If I understood correctly, there are two personified concepts that came somehow into existence along with the first Omniverse. One was Crea the spirit of creation,kight and life and the other was the Dark One, representing death, darkness, destruction. They were in absolute balance and repreosented the Universal balance. Neither could be without the other and that Balance was defined by the Rule. Now Crea decidsed that a Universe should be without pain, death and darkness and bestowd god like powers upon a being to champion her agenda, and Lord Lumis came to be. Lumis attacked the Dark realm but the very act of attacking and destroying tainted the side of the light and created an imbalance and thus violatin the Rule. The Dark One defended the dark side and was about to be victorious, but in doing so would end the Omniverse. The One behind it all interfered, banished Crea, reduced her powers and the Dark One promissed to sleep until the end of all times. Crea however rescued her champion and hid him on the Plane of Eternity, while the aparent absence of the Dark One created a power vacuun in the Anti Universe also known as the Nether Planes. In A new voice utterly inhuman and cold suddenly was heard .”Do tell them, Tyr. The ones present have my trust.” They turned and yet another srouded and hooded person stood by the door. Having gained access to the perhaps most secure room in the Union without raising any alarms or being noticed by even the Narth Supreme. No one but Tyr and Egill had really met the Dark One in person. Elligott only glimped the being during the trial of Eric ten years ago. The sudden arrival of this entity, made even Mothermachine feel pure existential fear. They all knew of him, but no one really knew what he was. To Elligott it appeared as if the ambient room temperature has dropped to below freezing. The Leedei had accidently extended his psonic senses and was near a catatonic state. The Non Corp seeing the world in its energy state, was stunned into blindness. The being said. “Do not fear, I am the Antiforce of life indeed, I am the end of all things,but I am also a Union Citizen, a title I hold equally important. Tyr and Egill are more tan friends Leaderof the Leedei, I have opened a safe path into my conciousness for you, so you may find the will to live once more.” The Leedei sighed deeply and recovered. “You who is the leader of tbe No Corporals, rest assured no harm will come to you. You are the spark giver to Two-Three.. I have taken measures so my presence will not harm you.” Tyr said. “Would it not better if you tell them? I draw from legends and hearsay, you do not.” “Very well then.” The Dark One apprached the table and sat down. “Do not dwell on what you think I am, and consider that I am also Eric.” They nodded and tried to relax somewhat. The Dark One begun. “Once there was a condition I want to call the first Omniverse. It was the Dawn of personified concepts # Admiral McElligott # Mother Machine # Alycia Lichfangh # Cherubim # Narth Supreme ( taking part only occationally ) 1 # Nt'gtar thk the 745th # 100000 (One Zero Zero Zero) – Leader of the Non Corps # Algear Moansti (first among the Saresii # Egill Skallagrímsson # Gray Nul # Garyth, Leedei # Master Alameda Attempt 4Edit Ensign Sheila Rice had just graduated from the Academy and had orders to report to Arsenal VI, Space port seven and wait for her new assignment. This lobby she was to wait in had the same mustard yellow carpet and the same overall design as virtually every other Union fleet facility. It was all eerie similar to what she experienced just a little over a year ago. When she was sent to the same space port, but a different lobby and landing field to serve her fourth and final year as midshipman aboard a real ship. She was surprised just as all the other midshipmen to find out she would serve it aboard the Devastator. What a year it had been! She even once talked to the Eternal Warrior himself. He was everything his legend said he would be and then some! He knew stories about her planet New Texas even she didn't know. She had never met anyone not from New Texas who could shoot like him. He knew about horses and cattle and told her about the old Texas on Earth and how similar New Texas still was compared to this legendary place he called state. But now she was here again and landing field four of space port seven was not the home port of the Devi. Besides if she would have been assigned to the Devi as Ensign, why transfer her. She missed her friends of the Devi Cowboy's. Her friends had voted for her name suggestion. More out of chance than anything else, they had chosen the black color as most of the other team colors were already picked. During their introduction, held by the Captain himself, he told them that black had a very special meaning on the Devi. Later she found out that black had been chosen by a Midshipman team nine years ago. Olafson's Gang it was called. The instructors never failed to mention that team, no matter what anyone did they did it better. So she researched it and from what she could find out, the instructors did not exaggerate. Rumors had it that Master Chief Arlboro were friends with them. Not that anyone really believed this tough Ult would have mercy on anyone scraping the enviro tanks. Another story circulated were the Dai member of that group bested a Pertharian in combat, since one of her best friends was a Pertharian she was certain this was just another story. Besides Dai always got picked for fighter pilots, transferred to fighter country and never returned. She got interrupted in her musings as a Wurgus, in Fleet black entered the lobby. It was rare but not entirely uncommon to see them in Fleet black. Wurgus who picked a career in the Armed Forces usually picked Army Corps of Engineers. Well she was not entirely wrong, the Wurgus wore the Space Bee patch on his sleeve and thus was a fleet engineer but she never seen that specialization logo of five overlapping hexagons. The Wurgus looked lost.”Is that lobby 556 Level 16 ?” “Sure is, pilgrim. Had the same darn trouble finding it. The computronic always said my security clearance is not sufficient to ask directions to this lobby. I had to present my orders to security guards and robots.” The Wurgus rotated his onion shaped eyes independent from each other and spread the drum stick like appendixes. It was these so called Wurgae, that gave the Wurgus heads this eerie resemblance to freshly slaughtered and plugged chicken. The Wurgae however were akin to natural antennae allowing them to detect electromagnetic waves. The Wurgus agreed and came closer.”You do know that this part of the space port is usually reserved to NAVINT ships.” “NAVINT? What good would a science ensign with geology major be to NAVINT?” “I am an engineer specializing in armor tech. I expected to assigned to a mobile dock or repair ship. I have no idea NAVINT could need someone like me.” A large bird like creature, wearing Union black with the rank of Lieutenant passed through the opening door. The being moved very fast. Sheila recognized the being as Walite. The species was home in the Andromeda galaxy. Everyone agreed they were as aggressive and war like as the Terrans, except of course the Walites and the Terrans. The Walite greeted both of them with a crisp salute.” Has our ship arrived yet?” Sheila identified the birdlike being as female by the direction her uniform lapel was folded and the gender prefix F on her name tag.”No ship has been announced to us yet, Ma'am.” The Walite looked at her PDD and seemed relieved.”I am still nine minutes early. There are few things we hate more than not being punctual.” The bird like creature greeted the Wurgus and sat down folding her long legs under her. “Lieutenant Graa, may I ask you a question?” “Certainly Ensign. We are bound to serve on the same ship so it appears” “Do you know what ship we are going to be on?” “Yes, the USS Tigershark.” Ampang stalked towards the visualizer sphere and spread all of his four arms with the leathery wings attached . “Hugpang explain to me what we are seeing. Are these associates to the Ence? Have they come to do war?” The somewhat shorther Litith Staker was many times older and had been through the gate of the Travellers on several occations in the past. “We are witnessing and invasion, no doubt. I hve never seen anything like it. We counted 60,000 ships so far and it appears the old gate spits out more every pass.. They are called the Uhnions. They are hostile towards the Ence.” Perhaps they are fleeing from something and evacuating, this armada is already exceeding our forces by numbers and these ships are enormous, but can they measure to our advances in technology?” “I have no detailed information, but their shields are advanced enough to prevent us from using feelers. On the other hand they feelers are tremndously powerful.” Another Lilith approached. “We received reports that a substantial force of Ence are apporaching. No doubt to use the gate to reinforce whatever they have on the other side.” “The Ence are equal to us in many aspects. Let us observe.” –“”-- The Yellow Throat Shiss turned in his command seat. “Comm. Get me a line to Mission Command.” “Your on Captain, said the Nul behind the communications console. Admiral Silver-Snack is receiving.” The field screen changed and showed a brown glob of a thing floating in deep space. It had a metallic contraption that almost looked like a pair of goggles, and it had spiky extensions. One of these extensions had a black band around it with the Union flag and another spiky fin, also with a black band was adorned with two golden stars. The being was a Lyrharm, a space born lifeform originating from the Andromeda Galaxy. Admiral Silver-Snack was in command of Operation Force Stop. The google like thing translated his natural radio wave communication into understandable speech and changed it into GalCom. The Shiss said. “This is Captain Yuuzz of the USS Ramock, Speahead mission. We are six parsec away. We just encountered 2494 Ence units on a straight course towards the gate.” “Acknowledged, that is why we here after all. Please tie me into your communications and open all known Ence channels.” “Tied in Sir, channels open.” The Lyrharm Admiral spoke addressing the approaching Ence. “This is Admiral Silver-Snack of the United Stars of the Galaxies. We have accepted the declaration of war of the Ence that have been present in the Small Magellan Cloud. After we have neutralized those aggressive towards us including the Xundran, we have been authorized by our Assembly to prevent any further incursion of hostiles and potential hostiles. Please note that we have declared this region, Union space. We are open to communications and negotiations but warn against any unauthorized approach or hostile acts.” Yuuzz wondered what would happen. The Ence and the Xundran had paid the price to anger the Union and try to impose their rules. It came to a short but very intensive war that erradicated Ence and Xundran presence in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Yuuz was a Union Citizen but it wasn't so long ago that the Shiss empire was an enemy, and as he told his own father, that his Communications Oficer was a Nul, he would not believe it and yet this was the Union Miracle. He had 6000 marines aboard, many of them Nul and they would fight to the death for him. His XO was a purple throat shiss. This was a fact he had not yet revealed to his father and would probably make his own grandfather believe the galaxy had stopped spinning. Yet at the academy he had made friends with a Holdian, a Togar, an Ult, a Jooltar, the very purple throat that was now his XO, a Takkian, a Nul, a Garbini and a human. They were called the Vindicator Knights during their midshipman year. Ever since the famous Olafson's Gang, fleet decided to keep any outstanding midshipman group together and send two of them to command school. It was still a rare occation of course. He looked over his bridge crew and a feeling of pride and affection made him realize he would put down his life for anyone of them, even the Ult or the Purple Throat. None of them he saw in terms of race or species anyway. They were Union Officers and the Vindicator Knights and his friends. He knew more about Holdians than the entire Shiss Species knew only about 50 years ago. He was addicted to Eggs and Grubs and was the first Shiss ever to set foot inside the Klack Queens palace and take part of the Master Level tournament. That he managed to reach the third place was a fact that made him almost as proud as the Captain's gold on his sleeves. No, the Ence or whoever else was in this Galaxy could not possibly know what they are up against. “Mister Jun, any response so far?” “No, Captain.” The Hodian manning tactical said. “They just activated shields and taking direct course towards us.” “Captain, Admiral Silver-Snack has just transmitted coordinates towards we have to retreat.” “Alright, go to Battle Stations and take course towards these coordinates.” --””-- Ampang had just listened to the transmission, that was meant for the Ence. “Hupang, have you not told me the Ence had a substantial hold in that galaxy? And weren't the Xundran there as well?” “Yes Decider.” “This message of those Unions did not sound as if they fleeing from something. But what manner of space ship was it the message originated?” “Our Knowledge seekers don't think it is a space ship but a space born life form. There are thousands of them.” Then they witnessed the arrival of something so immense it just barely fit through the immense gate. --””-- “Admiral Silver-Snack, the first of the two Hornet Nests has just arrived. “ The voice of one of its command staff said via GalCom. “Acknowledged, I am on my way to the frame right now. Have the Ence communicated?” “No Admiral, they maintain their course and have activated shields and weapons.” “Well it looks they are out for a fight. What about the Lilith ship?” “It maintains it positon at the edge of the scanner horizon.” “Alright, how we are doing on the Border marker deployment?” “We have eighty percent. We can light them up already.” “Activate them and make this short and sweet.I don't want them to come into range of their FTLs. Once they pass the red line lets do an Olafson. Exo loads authorized, Salvo tact, Lokis swarm deployment and Hornet Nest, deploy. Free Hunt this is a big galaxy with at least 3 hostile civilizations, let then now we arrived.” --””-- Ampang watched as thousands of tiny craft emerged from the big ship that had arrived. At first he thought it were some kind of guided missles.But they did not act like any guided missiles he knew. The things accelerated swarms of at least hundred each, he magnified as much as the system allowed. “Those are manned craft!” “What foolish civiliation would build such gigantic ships and then rely on tiny things?” Yet as the small ships accelerated the system was unable to keep up. The other Lilith said. “There is nothing known to us with such speed.” Ampang witnessed as hundreds of new suns bloomed in sudden existence among the ships of the Ence. He also reversed his opinion on the tinny ships, it was carnage , not a battle. He had not witnessed such sudden and brutal attack. The Ence had good weapons but they simply could not traget the little red things fast enough to score a hit. It was over before it really started, not even nine takkok had passed, and an Ence fleet big enough to go against half the Stalker fleet, was a field of drifting debris. The strangers now begun to gather the twisted wrecks and scrap. He watched as three gigantic ships appeared and started to gather and devour the scrap and twisted wrecks. “Who are they?” --”” “Sir the Devourers # Shiss-Yellow # Holdian # Togar # Ult # Jooltar # Takkiam # Garbini # Nul # Human # Purle throa Category:Fragments